E 175 

.5 

.8192 

Copy 1 



GEORGE BANCROFT. 



BY 



ANDREW McFARLAND DAVIS. 



[RkPRINTED FKOM THK PltOCKKDINGS OF TIIK AMERICAN ACADEMY 

OF AitTs AND Sciences, Vol. XXVI. ] 



\ 



GEORGE BANCROFT. 



BY 



ANDREW McFARLAND DAVIS. 



[Reprinted from the Proceedings of ti:e American' AdAbiiiviY 
OF Arts and Sciences, Vol. XXVLJ ,. , , ^ . , , ; 






p. 

Author. 

(Ptrson). 



GEOEGE BANCROFT. 



George Bancroft was born at Worcester, October 3, 1800. 
He was the son of Aaron and Lucretia (Chandler) Bancroft. His 
father was the leading clergyman of the Unitarian denomination 
in Central Massachiisetts ; was honored with the degree of D.D. by 
his Alma Mater, Harvard College ; was the author of a standard 
Life of Washington which has been republished in England and 
has also been recently reprinted in this country in popular form ; 
was Vice-President of the American Antiquarian Society for many 
years; was President of the American Unitarian Association from 
its organization in 1825 to 1836 ; and was a Fellow of the American 
Academy of Arts and Sciences. His mother was a daughter of 
Judge John Chandler, and was a recognized leader among the wo- 
men of the little town in which her lot was cast. Her time during 
married life was engrossed in the care of a large family of children, 
who were reared in a manner suited to their social position, with 
no other income ordinarily at command than her husband's salary 
as a country clergyman, eked out by such increase as could be 
obtained from teaching the children of parishioners. The lesson 
of George Bancroft's boyhood was that he must rely for his future 
support upon himself alone. 

A sister of Mr. Bancroft married John Davis, the greater part of 
whose life was spent in public service, as Governor of Massachu- 
setts, Eepresentative in Congress, or United States Senator. A 
nephew, J. C. Bancroft Davis, succeeded Mr. Bancroft at the Ger- 
man Embassy. The present Chief Justice of the United States 
finds a common ancestor with Mr. Bancroft, one generation back 
of the historian's father. 

It was Dr. Bancroft's earnest desire that his son should adopt 
his own profession; and, in preparation for that career, George was 
sent to Harvard College, where he graduated in 1817, second in 



•1 GEORGE BANCROFT. 

his class. The opportunity was then offered, him to comjolete his 
studies in Europe at the expense of the College. Of this he gladly 
availed himself, and the next five years of his life were spent in 
study and travel in Europe. He studied at Gottingen and Berlin, 
taking the degree of Ph.D. at Gottingen before he was twenty 
i years of age. 

This period of his life was rich in friendships of distinguished 
men belonging to a generation now passed away. It was fraught 
with benefits to him in his future career. The familiarity with 
the German language which he then gained was of incalculable ser- 
vice to him, both in his diplomatic and in his literary labors. The 
philosophic cast of his studies somewhat influenced his methods of 
thought, and found sufficient expression in his writings for his 
critics to charge him with myfeticism. Yet their tendency was to 
raise his strong, nervous personality above the plane of prejudice, 
and to help him to measure events upon a just standard. The 
estimate in which he was then held may be judged by the language 
in which Humboldt introduced him to Pictet. Bancroft was de- 
scribed by Humboldt as a "young American, who has made an 
excellent study of philosophy and philosophic history in Germanj^" 
His reception at this time by prominent men in the world of Euro- 
pean letters doubtless inspired, in him the confidence which was 
required when, a few years later, he concluded to undertake what 
was to prove the work of his life. 

The privilege of study in Europe had been afforded him by 
Harvard College, with a view to his thus preparing for a professor- 
ship in that College when there should be a vacancy. So far as 
his immediate prospects were concerned, he had not on his return 
to the United States, in 1822, ultimately abandoned his intention 
of adopting the profession of the Christian ministry; and he did 
in fact preach in his father's puljiit, and from time to time else- 
where, for a brief period. He was appointed Tutor of Greek at 
Harvard College in 1822, and filled that office for a year. 

From 1823 to 1830, his time was devoted to teaching at Round 
Hill School, Northampton. In 1827 he married Sarah H. Dwight. 
She died in 1837. By this marriage he had two sons and one 
daughter. The sons survive their father. In 1838 he married 
Mrs. Elizabeth (Davis) Bliss, who died in 1886. She bore him 
one daughter ,who died, while yet a child. 

It was while connected with Round Hill School that he launched 
his first literary venture, a volume of poems, published in 1823. 



GEORGE BANCROFT. 5 

His pen during this period of his life was also busily at work upon 
translations from the German, and on articles for the prominent 
reviews of the day. An oration delivered on the 4th of July, 1826, 
and published the same year, in which he announced the democratic 
nature of his political views, and a pamphlet on ' ' The Bank of the 
United States," published anonymously in 1831, indicate the in- 
terest he took in the political questions of the day. In 1830 an 
opening was afforded him through which he might have entered 
political life if he had cared to do so. He was elected to the legis- 
lature, but declined to take the seat. Next year he was tendered 
tlie nomination to the Senate, but, notwithstanding the fact that 
his election would have been certain, he declined the honor. 

In 1834 he published the first volume of his History. " I have 
formed the design," he says in his Preface, '*of writing a History 
of the United States from the discovery of the American Continent 
to the present time." It will be seen that he did not attempt to 
carry out tlie plan as thus promulgated. History requires the aid 
of intervening time as a guaranty that the writer shall escape the 
prejudices and passions provoked by current events. It was im- 
possible that Mr. Bancroft should treat with uniform impartiality 
of men and affairs belonging strictly to the past, and of events 
which had been shaped by the generation then controlling the 
destiny of his country. His History, as published, concludes 
with the establishment of a constitutional government in the 
United States, and to its production he devoted the remainder of ' 
his life, publishing from time to time the several volumes of the 
series, as intervals of leisure in his political and diplomatic labors 
permitted. 

In 1835 he removed to Springfield, and next year ran for Con- 
gress in that district on the Democratic ticket, but was defeated. 
From 1838 to 1841 he was Collector of the Port of Boston. In 
1844 he was Democratic candidate for Governor of Massachusetts, 
but failed of election. In 1845 he was Secretary of the Navy under 
James K. Polk, and wliile he held that position he founded the Na- 
val School at Annapolis. The need of a training school for naval 
officers similar to that at West Point for the Army had long been 
felt. The usual sectional jealousies and political prejudices which 
impede useful legislation at Washington were to be apprehended if 
a direct appeal for the establishment of such an institution were 
made. An opportunity offered to secure the post at Fort Severn, 
Annapolis, without legislation. Existing laws permitted the 



6 GEORGE BANCROFT. 

stationing of certain officers and instructors at this post. It was 
also possible to detach midshipmen from vessels as they arrived in 
this country and order them to Annapolis. All of this was accom- 
plished. Orders for the establishment of the school were issued, 
and a scheme was promulgated which, in 1846, was published at 
Washington, under title of '*Plan and Regulations of Naval 
School at Annapolis." The school was formally opened October 
10, 1845. On the 1st of January, 1846, its membership was 
composed of forty-nine midshipmen and seven acting midshipmen. 
The Navy thus became indebted to Secretary Bancroft for a train- 
ing school. 

While Secretary of the Navy, he issued the order to take posses- 
sion of California in the event^of a war between the United States 
and Mexico, and while acting as Secretary of War, during the 
temporary absence of Marcy, Bancroft issued the order to General 
Taylor to march into Texas. 

The stirring events in which Bancroft as a member of Polk's 
Cabinet participated were of momentous consequence to his coun- 
try. Every believer in what was then termed the " manifest 
destiny " of the country was compelled to admit that it was true 
statesmanship to seize the opportunity for gaining the magnificent 
territory offered for our control by the republic of Texas. Every 
antislavery man felt that Texas would not have been annexed, 
except that it would add another slaveholding State. Whether to 
sacrifice an opportunity which might not occur again, or to take 
the chances of a future adjustment of the powers of the two sections, 
was the question which antislavery men were forced to solve. To 
most Northerners the overwhelming antislavery sentiment in the 
North made the solution of the problem easy ; but to an antislavery 
Democrat holding an office of power, the position was a difficult 
one. Mr. Bancroft was a Democrat, an ardent lover of his coun- 
try, and an antislavery man. Rev. Dr. Hale is authority for the 
statement that, while his confirmation as Secretary of the Navy was 
before the Senate, he was ajiproached by a Senator on the subject 
of slavery, and in reply to questions as to his views he said that 
he was an antislavery man, and if he were to go through the 
Senate he must go erect and not on his knees. The annexation 
of Texas carried with it a possibility of war with Mexico. The 
general opinion at that time was that the days of Mexico's occu- 
pation of Upper California were numbered, and it was feared that 
England would take possession whenever opportunity offered. That 



GEORGE BANCROFT. 7 

it would be in the interest of civilization if the United States 
should by any chance secure this territory, there was no doubt 
in any person's mind. It was under these circumstances that 
Bancroft, to quote the language of Von Holtz, "never wearied 
of impressing this one precept upon Sloat, Stockton, and Biddle. 
See to it that as soon as practicable Upper California at least be in 
our liands, in order that we may retain it if peace is concluded upon 
the basis of uti possidetis.' ' The same author measures the situ- 
ation in the United States at that time in the following language : 
' ' After its territory had once been extended thus far to the West, 
it was a proj^er, nay, an inevitable thought, that its banner must 
overshadow the entire continent, in its whole extent from ocean to 
ocean." 

In 1846, Bancroft was transferred from the Cabinet to the Court 
of St. James. During the three j^ears that he remained in London 
as Minister Plenipotentiary, he negotiated a postal treaty between 
Great Britain and the United States. He took great interest in 
the debates in Parliament on the Navigation Laws, and exerted his 
influence to secure a modification of their rigor. 

When Bancroft went to London, he found that his History, three 
volumes of which had then been published, had made him a famous 
man. He was cordially welcomed in society, and was admitted to 
the friendship of the prominent literary men and statesmen of the 
day. ''I met him everywhere," says Robert C. Winthrop, "and 
witnessed the high estimation in wliich he was held by literary 
men like Rogers, and Hal lam, and Alison, and Milman, and Lord 
Mahon, and by statesmen like Peel, Palmerston, and Russell." 

Under such circumstances the oj^portunity to consult original 
documents bearing upon the topics of his History were exce^jtional, 
and he availed himself of it to amass an amount of material such 
as no man working in the same field had before that time had at 
his command. While Minister to England, he received from the 
University of Oxford the degree of Doctor of Civil Law. 
• In 1849 he returned to the United States, and took up his abode 
in New York, where he devoted himself to historical labors. His 
life was one of great regularity. Each day had its appropriate 
hours set apart for labor, for exercise and recreation, and for social 
duties. He faithfully followed the allotted programme, thus secur- 
ing the best results for mind and body. The fourth volume of the 
history — the first of the Revolution — was published in 1852, the 
fifth in 1853, the sixth in 1854, the seventh in 1858, the eighth 



O GEORGE BANCROFT. 

in 1860, and the ninth in 1866. Besides these, he published in 
1855 a volume of "Literary and Historical Miscellanies." In 
Februar}^, 1866, he delivered before Congress an oration in memory 
of Abraham Lincoln. 

In May, 1867, he was appointed Minister to Prussia. He re- 
mained at Berlin until 1874, representing our government at this 
Court during its successive changes from the kingdom of Prussia 
to the North German Confederation, and finally to the German 
Empire. While Minister to the North German Confederation, he 
concluded naturalization treaties which included in their scope 
Prussia, Baden, Bavaria, and Wiirtemberg. These treaties were 
the first to recognize the right of a citizen to change his alle- 
giance, and could only have been secured by a man of exceptional 
influence. While at Berlin, he presented the American case in 
the arbitration between Great Britain and the United States 
concerning the title to the island of San Juan. This act was 
performed by him under a separate appointment. The decision 
of the Emperor sustained the title of the United States, and finally 
disposed of the vexed question. In 1868, he received from the 
University of Bonn the degree of Doctor of Laws, and in 1870, on 
the fiftieth anniversary of his Doctorate of Pliilosophy at Got- 
tingen, that University conferred upon him an honorary Ph. D. 
The circumstances connected with this event attracted much atten- 
tion. Congratulations were showered upon the head of Mr. Ban- 
croft in person, by letter, and by telegraph, from crowned heads, 
from learned societies, from generals, and from men of letters. 
Bismarck sent his from the field. Americans when they read the 
story of these events realized that rare honors had been heaped 
upon the head of their Minister. 

In 1874 he was at his own request recalled. On his return 
to this country he divided his life between Washington and 
Newport, making the former place his winter, and the latter his 
summer home. Almost to the last day of his life, he continued 
his methodical habits, parcelling out his labors and his pleasures, 
allotting specific periods of the day to each, and rigidly adhering 
to his plan. Those who were present at the opening session of 
the American Historical Association in Washington, in 1886, will 
remember an incident which will illustrate the value he attached 
to punctuality. At the aj^pointed hour he was ready to open the 
meeting, but owing to circumstances over which he had no control 
was unable to do so. As soon as he was able, he called the audience 



GEORGE BANCROFT. 9 

to order, saying, "I pray you all to bear witness that I was here, 
prepared to open this meeting, at precisely ten o'clock." 

Volume X. of his History, which practically completed the work, 
was published in 1874. The Centenary Edition, revised and con- 
densed into five volumes, was published in 1876. An edition was 
published in London in 1862, and a German edition in Leipzig in 
1875. Perhaps these foreign editions did not have his personal 
sui)ervision. Volumes XI. and XII. were separately published 
under the title of " History of the Formation of the Constitution 
of the United States," in 1882. A revised edition, which included 
the history of the Constitiition, and which was termed by him 
the "final revision," was published in six volumes in 1883-85. 
The last volume which he published was a "Life of Martin Van 
Buren." The manuscript for this sketch had been prepared many 
years before. The last work actually given by him to the public 
was a trenchant criticism of the Supreme Court in the Legal Tender 
Case. This was published in 1886, under the title of "A Plea 
for the Constitution of the United States of America, wounded 
in the House of its Guardians." 

Allibone gives a list of his miscellaneous publications. The 
Annual Report of the American Historical Association for 1889 
gives a list of his historical works, including papers communicated 
to historical societies. Still another list of his publications will 
be found in Appleton's Cycloptedia of American Biography. 

The social position which Mr. Bancroft held when he returned 
from Germany to this country was enviable. His friendships 
comprehended the great men of two hemispheres for half a century. 
Learned societies at home and abroad had elected him to active and 
honorary membership. He bore honorary degrees from American, 
English, and German universities. A partial list of these socie- 
ties and degrees occupies nearly half a column in the Quinquen- 
nial Catalogue of Harvard University. The Senate of the United 
States extended to him the unprecedented honor of free access to 
the floor of their chamber. His society was eagerly sought both 
at Washington and at Newport, and it required all the restraints 
of his methodical habits to preserve strength for the work still 
before him. Towards the end of his life the anniversaries of 
his birthday were made much of by friends. Elowers, messages, 
and congratulations were showered upon him. October 3, 1887, 
Browning cabled him as follows : — 



10 GEORGE BANCROFT. 

" Bancroft, the message-bearing wire 
Which flashes my all-hail to-day 
Moves slower than the heart's desire 
That what hand pens tongue's self might say." 

He took great pleasure in the cultivation of roses; and the " George 
Bancroft " in tlie catalogues of rosarians bears witness to the 
recognition of this taste on the part of horticulturists. He was 
fond, especially during the latter part of his life, of riding; and 
visitors to Washington or Newport felt that they had missed one 
of the sights of the place if they had failed to see the slight, 
erect form of the historian, crowned with his snow-white hair and 
beard, as he took his daily exercise on horseback. He was grateful 
for the opportunities afforded him at Exeter, where he went to 
school, and founded there a scholarship. At Harvard he founded 
a fellowshij) which he named, after his old teacher, the "John 
Thornton Kirkland Fellowship." In honor of his parents, he 
placed in possession of the city of Worcester a fund for the main- 
tenance of a scholarship which he called the "Aaron and Lucretia 
Bancroft Scholarship. ' ' 

He died, January 17, 1891, at his home in Washington. His 
friends were not unprepared for the event, as he had been percepti- 
bly failing for a long time. The Emperor of Germany caused 
flowers to be laid upon the casket which contained his remains. 
The funeral services were held at Washington ; but the body of the 
historian was interred in the same cemetery in Worcester which 
I holds the remains of his father and mother. 

I The position of Bancroft's History as the standard history of the 
United States has left for the critics to discuss only the question 
how long the work will be able to maintain this position. Alli- 
bone has grouped in his columns the ojiinion of a number of com- 
petent writers. A few extracts from these opinions expressed 
during the progress of the work, a brief analysis of some of the 
objections which have been made to the History itself, and a few 
quotations from later writers, in which they state their estimate of 
the work, will help to determine this question. Heeren, under 
whom Bancroft studied and who was his personal friend, reviewing 
the first three volumes, says, "We know few modern historic 
works in which the author has reached so high an elevation at 
once as an historical inquirer and an historical writer." Edward 
Everett, reviewing the first volume, says, "As far as it goes, it 
does such justice to its noble subject as to supersede the necessity 



GEORGE BANCROFT. 11 

of any future work of the .same kind." Prescott, reviewing tlie 
third volume, says, " His Colonial History establishes his title to 
a place among the great historical writers of the age." Dr. Gris- 
wold in his ''Prose Writers of America," treating of Volumes I., 
II., and III., thinks that "lie becomes insensibly the advocate of 
the cause of freedom, which invalidates his testimony." The 
Edinburgh Review, on the other hand, says, "The real liberal- 
ity, the general fairness, the labor and conscientious research it 
evinces, deserves, and we are assured will receive, his [the English 
reader's] warmest api^robation. " The Westminster Review pre- 
dicts, "with confidence, that his work will be reckoned among the 
genuine masterpieces of historical genius." Lecky, in his "Eng- 
land in the Eighteenth Century," accuses him uf violent par- 
tisanship, and charges that it greatly impairs his "very learned 
History." The foregoing will illustrate the reception of the 
History by literary men during its progress. It is difficult to 
conceive of tributes more gratifying to an author. If there had 
been no voice in England to raise the charge of partisanship 
against this ardent American while engaged in depicting the 
jn-eliminary struggles of the Colonies with the mother country, 
it would have been because he had failed to accomplish what he 
liad undertaken. If the English people, as a whole, had not been 
able to appreciate Bancroft's labor and conscientious research, his 
fairness of purpose, and the real liberality beneath his sharp, inci- 
sive criticism, it could only have been because they had become 
less tolerant than we know them to be. 

In the composition of the first three volumes, wliicli are devoted 
to Colonial History, Bancroft relied upon resources such as are 
at command of ordinary writers. "I have been most liberally 
aided," he says in his Preface, "by the directors of our chief 
public libraries; especially the library at Cambridge, on American 
history the richest in the world, has been opened to me as freely 
as if it had been my own." The period covered topics concerning 
which an expression of opinion did not necessarily raise a contro- 
versy. Believers in the historic value of the Sagas did not feel it 
their duty to attack one who accepted the visits of the- Norsemen 
to this coast as a natural probability, because he thought the 
Sagas themselves mythological in form and obscure in meaning. 
The exercise of discriminating judgment as to the voyages of the 
l)eriod, while it might arouse criticism as to the accuracy of the 
adoption of this or that narrative, did not provoke acrimonious 



12 GEORUE BANCROFT. 

discussion. The wide difference between the reception of the ear- 
lier volumes, and of the series which bore upon Revolutionary 
topics, calls attention to the scheme of the History, and empha- 
sizes the manner in which that scheme was develojied. The whole 
History is divided into three parts: the history of the Colonies; 
the history of the Revolution, which in turn is separated by the 
Declaration of Independence into two subdivisions; and the his- 
tory of the formation of the Constitution. The publication of the 
portion dealing with the Revolution stirred up a series of con- 
troversies. Bancroft was compelled to express himself frankly 
concerning men who had living descendants. Family pride was 
aroused, and pamphlets were issued in defence of ancestors whose 
reputations were sup^x^sed to have been injured by the strictures of 
the historian. Mr. Winsor, in a note in the eighth volume of the 
"Narrative and Critical History of America," gives an account of 
the literature of this description bearing upon the most important 
of these pamphlet battles. The controversies there recapitulated 
were based upon language used by Bancroft concerning Colonel 
Timothy Pickering, General Greene, General Schuyler, General 
Sullivan, and Joseph Reed. In the last case it was shown that 
Bancroft had been misled by an incident which had occurred to 
another Colonel Reed; and the charge based upon that error was 
withdrawn in the Centenary Edition of the History. The language 
used with reference to Schuyler and Sullivan was also in each case 
modified in this edition, but the judgments of the men remain 
substantially as before. In the Preface to the sixth volume, he 
says, *'I hope at least it will appear that I have written with 
candor, neither exaggerating vices of character, nor reviving na- 
tional animosities, but rendering a just tribute to virtue wherever 
found." It was in this spirit that he approached the subject; and 
ui)on the judgment of posterity as to how far he was able to live up 
to it his reputation as an historian must stand. The majority 
of readers at the present day will give him credit for the exercise 
of a judicial spirit in reaching the conclusions for which he was 
attacked. His History would be worthless if he had not been 
manly enough to express his opinions. His conckisions have 
seldom been doubted, save where they conflicted with the esti- 
mates of kindred. 

His style has been condemned as redundant and pom})ous ; but 
his capacity for marshalling events in narrative form has been 
admitted even by those disposed to criticise. Colonel Higginson's 



GEORGE BANCROFT. 13 

opinion on this })oint is vividly set forth in the following language : 
''The reader is compelled to admit that his resources in the way 
of preparation are inexhaustible, and that his command of them is 
astounding. One must follow him minutely through the history of 
the war for independence, to appreciate in full the consummate 
grasp of a mind which can deploy military events in a narrative 
as a general deploys brigades in afield." The same writer calls 
attention to a fault " which Bancroft shared with his contemj^ora- 
ries, but in which he far exceeded any of them, — an utter ignoring 
of the very meaning and significance of a quotation mark." This 
criticism is based upon an obvious defect, the existence of which 
cannot be denied. Instances can be found in Bancroft's works in 
which quotation marks are used enclosing paragraphs in which 
there were abridgments and insertions for the })urpose of making 
the thought continuous, without the typographical marks essen- 
tial to denote these changes. He does not, however, need especial 
defence for pursuing the practice of his contemporaries. It is 
logical perhaps to say that, when tried by Mr. Bancroft's literary 
methods, the mass of correspondence quoted in the History of the 
Constitution, "though valuable as suggestion, is worthless as au- 
thority, " but it is severe. The same test would compel the rejec- 
tion of Sparks's Washington, if indeed it would not carry with it 
the entire collection of Washington's manuscripts in the State 
Department ; for we know that some of the letter-book copies of the 
correspondence on file in that office were revamped by Washing- 
ton himself. There is no hesitation in quoting Sparks, and perfect 
confidence is felt that he made no change, either by alteration or 
omission, that could in his judgment affect the sense of the text, 
nor is it to be believed that Washington ever changed a word in his 
letter-books which he thought could modify their interpretation. 
The point must be indeed narrow and technical, a question of close 
construction or of the use of a wxn-d under circumstances demand- 
ing for an estimate of its value all that immediately precedes or 
follows it, that would call for the verification of any of Bancroft's 
quotations by comparison with original documents. 

Marginal references in the first six volumes, although not copious, 
are frequently met with. In the seventh volume they are entirely 
omitted, and thenceforward through the History are rarely to be 
seen. This change is much regretted by students. An explana- 
tion of why the references were omitted in the seventh volume is 
to be found in the Preface. The reason stated was "the variet}'^ 



14 GEORGE BANCROFT. 

and multitude of the papers which have been used, and which could 
not be intelligently cited, without burdening the pages with a 
disproportionate commentary." It was apparently Bancroft's in- 
tention at that time to cull ovit for publication such letters as 
would confirm his narrative, "and possess an intrinsic and gen- 
eral interest by illustrating the character and sentiments of the 
people during the ten or twelve years preceding the 4th of July, 
1776." This purpose he did not carry out. 

The extracts from the opinions of reviewers j^reviously quoted 
show that nearly all of the writers were of opinion that Bancroft 
was destined to liold permanently his position as the historian of 
the United States. How far the charges of partisanship made by 
siich writers as Griswold and Lecky, and later by jjamphleteers in 
this country, have affected this position, may be measured somewhat 
by the exjjressed opinions of historical students. Robert C. Win- 
throp, at the first meeting of the Massachusetts Historical Society 
after Bancroft's death, said: "You have well said, Mr. President, 
that Bancroft was foremost as the historian of the United States. 
His great work in all its varied editions will always be read and 
recognized as the leading authority on American history for the 
period which it includes. His style may be criticised, and cen- 
sured as redundant or rhetorical. His philosophy may be discarded 
as partaking occasionally of that German mysticism which he im- 
bibed in his youth. A vein of partisanship too, may sometimes be 
detected amid all his professions of impartiality. It could hardly 
be otherwise. No one in writing history, or in doing anything 
else, can escape from himself, or can wholly conceal, even should 
he try to do so, his own preconceived opinions, his own individual 
peculiarities and idiosyncrasies." Further on in his remarks 
Mr. Winthrop added, " The truth of history was uppermost in his 
aims and efforts from first to last." Two months later Mr. Win- 
throp attended the semiannual meeting of the American Anti- 
quarian Society. Bancroft had for twenty years been the First 
Vice-President of this Society. A memorial of his life was read 
by Samuel S. Green. Mr. Winthrop, alluding to Bancroft's death, 
then said, " I do not forget that he and I shared so long the dis- 
tinction of being the oldest members of the Society, and that is 
now left to me alone." He then added, with great earnestness of 
manner, "I paid my little tribute to him at our Massachusetts 
Historical Society, and I have nothing to add to it, and nothing 
to detract from it." Mr. Winsor, in the Narrative and Critical 



GEORGE BANCROFT. 15 

History of America deals with the question of the probability of 
Bancroft retaining his position in the following language: ''His 
learning and the extraordinary resources of his material are likely 
to make his work necessary for the student, till another with equal 
or better facilities shall compass the subject in a way to gain wider 
sym})athy." In other words, the writer who shall supplant Ban- 
croft must command at least equal facilities, and deal with the sub- 
ject in a more attractive way. To measure the probabilities of the 
occurrence of these events, it is necessary to review the resources 
at his command. 

It has been seen that no especial claim can be made for him in 
regard to the facilities at his disposal for the preparation of his 
Colonial History. The researches of topical students have placed 
within easy reach of the writer of to-day much that was to be 
learned only by diligent study when Bancroft wrote. To examine 
the Colonial records of the original States, he was obliged to travel 
from State to State. Many of these records have since been pub- 
lished, and are now to be found in all the great libraries. When 
we reach the Kevolutionary period, however, it is easy to compre- 
hend why Colonel Higginson speaks of Bancroft's resources as inex- 
haustible, and why Mr. Winsor characterizes them as extraordinary. 
Bancroft himself has given a detailed recapitulation of his manu- 
script sources of authority in the Prefaces to his sixth and 4iinth 
volumes. There is not space at command to give this informa- 
tion in full. Tlie following extract from Mr. Winsor's abridged 
statement of the information furnished by these Prefaces will serve 
to show how remarkable were his opportunities : — 

" jSTothing was refused him in the English State Paper Office, nor at the 
Treasury. The manuscripts of the British Museum and the Royal Insti- 
tution, such of the Chatham Papers as had not been printed, the Shelburne 
Papers, including the letters of Shelburne and the King, an autobiography 
of the third Duke of Grafton, a journal of the Earl of Dartmouth, the 
letters which passed from the King to Lord North, not to mention others 
of lesser importance, were placed at his disposal. In France the archives 
were thrown open to his search without restraint, and the treasures of the 
Marine and War Departments were largely drawn upon. On the nego- 
tiations for peace, the French archives offered him the richest material. 
From Germany his acquisitions were peculiarly valuable, as Sparks had 
scarcely reaped anything from that field. He found the archives of 
Hesse-Cassel closed to him as to others, but through the instrumentality 
of Friedrich Kapp and others he secured the possession of private journals 
and reports of the Hessian officers, and caused searches to be made in the 



16 



GEORGE BANCROFT. 



wide field of the contemporary publications in Germany for letters and 
criticisms on the part of the German auxiliaries in the war which he con- 
siders 'in the main the most important of all that have been preserved.' 
From Berlin, he got the reports made to the Duke of Brunswick by his 
oflBcers which have finally found a lodgment in the Russian archives; and 
he also secured the collection which Max von Eelking, the writer on the 
Hessian story, had amassed in his studies. He likewise obtained copies 
of the correspondence of Frederick the Great with his foreign ministers, 
so far as it touched upon the affairs of America. From Moscow and 
Vienna, from Holland and from Spain, other documents came to swell 
the record, which have enabled him to make his account of the foreign 
relations of the Confederacy the best by far which had been prepared. 

" His wealth of American papers is probably from their scope unsur- 
passed in private hands. He hjid of course at his command the resources 
of the government archives, and those of the original States; he could 
examine the papers of the Revolution gathered in public libraries, and in 
the cabinets of historical societies; and besides these he had his own 
gatherings ; the correspondence of the agents of the various Colonies in 
London prior to the outbreak of actual war, like Bollan, Jasper Mauduit, 
Richard Jackson, Arthur Lee, Franklin, W. S. Johnson, and others; the 
papers more or less extensive of Hutchinson, Israel Mauduit, Pownall, 
Hollis, Mayhew, Andrew Eliot, Golden, Bernard; and, above all, the papers 
of Samuel Adams, which passed into Bancroft's hands some years ago. 

" He speaks also of two volumes of papers of Greene, and the papers 
of Anthony Wayne, which were submitted to his inspection." 

If ever the opportunity should occur for one man to command 
such resources as these, he still must, in the contest for supremacy, 
measure swords witli Bancroft in the treatment of the subject. 

Mr. Winsor in the ' ' final statement ' ' in his History speaks of 
the value of monograph, as rounding the treatment of any phase of 
history in a way rarely accomplished in more comprehensive work. 
One of the criticisms which has been made upon Bancroft's work is 
tliat he did not keep up with the times, and that in his last revision 
he did not devote himself to a more detailed investigation of the 
work of specialists in the several topics covered by his History, in 
preference to confining his labor mainly to the elimination of re- 
dundancies and the condensation of material. A glance at the 
manner in which he carried the scheme of his History into execu- 
tion will furnish a partial answer to this criticism. He treated his 
subject by topics exhaustively, and as he progressed he devoted his 
time to the investigation of the new field which was before him. 
It was impossible that he should be constantly at work where he 
had already concluded his labors, and equally impossible but that 



GEORCK BANCROFT. 17 

from time to time his attention sliould be called to errors which 
notwithstanding his vigilance had crept in. As edition after 
edition of his works came out, he eliminated such errors as came 
under his observation; but his main labor was devoted to the })erfec- 
tion of his scheme. When the History proper was concluded, and 
afterward when the volumes on the Constitution were published, 
he was confi-onted with the question, whether, in a revision of the 
published volumes, he should merely try to condense them, or 
wli ether he should attack the subject anew and attempt to treat 
it as a whole, taking up the study of each part where he had pre- 
viously dropped it. At his time of life the latter course was prac- 
tically impossible. He chose the former, and, while opinions may 
differ as to the wisdom of the choice, it will commend itself to the 
majority. 

Mr. Bancroft's career has been presented as statesman, as 
historian, and as citizen. Whether his memory is longer to be 
preserved through his founding the Naval School, and through his 
connection with the acquisition of California and the enlargement' 
of the rights of naturalized citizens, in the first capacity ; through 
his recognized pre-eminence as the historian of his country; or 
through the grateful recognition of his forethought in founding- 
exhibitions at Exeter, Harvard, and Worcester, posterity alone 
can tell. 



1 TRRORY OF CONGRESS 



